Krill fishing in the Scotia Sea in relation to bathymetry, including the detailed distribution around South Georgia

Analyses of the distribution of krill fishing based on fine-scale (0.5o latitude x 1o longitude) data show that harvesting in the Scotia Sea has been mainly in shelf and shelf-break areas on the northern side of the Scotia Arc. Regional analyses reveal that there are restricted parts of shelf and shelf-break areas where high catches have been obtained. Although these data give a general idea of where the fishery has operated, they do not reveal the localised nature of the fishing operation. Over the last three winter fishing seasons (1993 to 1995) individual trawl statistics have been recorded in the South Georgia area. Analyses of these data show marked interannual variability in the distribution of trawls. The data for 1993 were only available from August but the fishery was restricted in that period to an area on the western edge of the shelf break where negligible fishing occurred in the following two seasons. In 1994 the fishery was almost totally based over a large shallow bank area on the northeast shelf edge. During 1995 the fishery was still predominantly in this area but also operated further west on a range of banks associated with submarine valleys. The results are discussed in relation to the ecology of krill and the fishery's interaction with local predator colonies.

Details